Fallout Remains Over County Pay Dispute

Hundreds of Northampton County employees have been hoping since October that the county's Personnel Appeals Board will right perceived wrongs in their salaries.

They say the problems arose from a countywide personnel reclassification study last year.

Most of them may have to wait a little longer, because board members may not decide the bulk of the appeals for at least a month.

But Personnel Director Peter C. Regina doesn't have to wait. He received a raise six weeks after the board heard his case in December.

Regina complained in his appeal that his pay classification "did not accurately reflect the duties and responsibilities of his position." As a result, the board at first ordered that his pay be increased from $49,031 to $55,543 -- a $6,512 raise.

Regina wouldn't provide access to the order from the five-member independent board because he said it was a personnel matter. However, a copy provided to The Morning Call shows that the county was "directed to take all steps necessary to implement" it, retroactive to Oct. 1, 1991.

Responding to reports that the top county officials were unhappy with the size of the award, county solicitor Edward L. Redding said, "An amicable resolution was reached with Mr. Regina."

Regina's annual pay eventually was set at $49,502 -- $6,041 less than the board ordered. It rose to $51,522 in January after a 4 percent raise on the anniversary of his employment with the county.

Other employees' cases, heard at the same time as Regina's, also have been decided. They include the deputy warden at the prison, 10 workers at the juvenile detention center and six social workers from Gracedale.

But those other workers were at the center of a battle between Executive Gerald E. Seyfried and County Council last year when the countywide personnel reclassification study by Barstan Associates, Philadelphia, took effect.

Council thought the salaries should be higher than the administration wanted and the report suggested. As part of a compromise to avoid a showdown in court, the administration agreed those cases would be heard first by the Personnel Appeals Board.

Regina's job wasn't part of that deal.

Deputy Warden James Onembo won his appeal, and his pay increased from $42,965 to $43,204. His 4 percent annual increase brought his pay to $44,899.

The social workers also won, and their pay increased from $23,254 each to $25,497. The juvenile detention home employees lost, so their pay stayed in a range of $18,472 to $22,577 instead of rising to $25,497 to $31,163. They appealed to Northampton County Court, claiming -- in part -- that Barstan originally recommended higher salaries and Seyfried and Regina lowered them because of political motivations.

All of the raises granted by the board are retroactive to Oct. 1, just as Regina's was.

Regina said the Personnel Appeals Board wanted his hearing to be among the first.

Seyfried said he asked supervisors, including Regina, to wait until rank-and-file employees had their appeals. Seyfried said any other course would be "unfair."

"I think at least 95 percent of that (request) has been honored," Seyfried said last week.

But, said Regina, "Many department heads have appealed and have been heard already." He said Seyfried never mentioned anything to him directly about waiting. He also said that because he is a career service employee -- akin to Civil Service in state or federal government -- the administration has no right to interfere with his case and would never try.

Regina also defended the early hearing for his case. "That was purposely because I didn't want to learn how the board was acting with the other employees," he said. "It wouldn't be fair."

At each hearing, Regina defends the Barstan study for the county by reading from a paper that says the Personnel Commission recommended adoption, the administration approved it and County Council adopted it.

Regina also represented the county at his own hearing, apparently making his appeal the only one in which the same person spoke for both sides.

Besides the 18 decisions handed down, 44 more cases have been heard. There are 200 other cases awaiting a hearing.

The county, which has spent $1.3 million to implement Barstan's findings, expects the appeals could cost an additional $100,000 a year when they are decided.

Seyfried said he is frustrated by the delays and tried to speed the process earlier this year when he proposed board members be paid $12 per hour for hearing Barstan appeals; council approved the pay.

Soon after, the board held three daylong sessions at the end of April and the beginning of last month to dispose of the hearings.

But citing the advice of county solicitor Redding, Regina refuses to disclose which appeals have been heard and which have not. He did not respond to a request for the dates of hearings already held, and he won't allow access to orders handed down by the board changing individual salaries.